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As a parent trying to ensure my child has an understanding of how her actions affect the world around her, it’s always helpful to have examples to make an abstract concept more concrete. If those examples can include things she finds relevant or interesting, then it’s even better. Fortunately, Minnesota publisher Capstone has recently released a series of books aimed at young children that use DC Comics characters to illustrate positive character traits. The books are wonderfully illustrated by...

Minicon 53, which was held March 30 through April 1, 2018, was especially notable in two ways. First, it was the 50th anniversary of the first convention (there were two in 1971 and two in 1974, which is why we’re on convention 53). And second, it saw the convention leave the DoubleTree Bloomington, otherwise known as the Radishtree for its past as a Radisson and a Sheraton, for the DoubleTree Park Place in St. Louis Park. The guests of...

Clowns from around the globe gathered in Bloomington, Minnesota, last month for the annual convention of the World Clown Association This wasn’t your garden-variety clown gathering—it was the whipped cream of the crop, professional clowns young and old, new, improved, and veteran, coming together to learn from one another and embrace their passion of clowning. Over the years, the profession of clowning has dwindled somewhat as the world has moved towards superhero birthday parties and clowns have been repeatedly portrayed as maniacal, dastardly,...

For many people, both inside and outside of the trans community, the word transgender is seen as referring to people who were assigned male at birth (AMAB) and transitioned to a female identity or people who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) and transitioned into a male identity. Sometimes this includes physically transitioning with surgery and hormones, and sometimes it does not. This idea, however, is missing a whole slew of folks under the trans umbrella: many people, whether...

I hadn’t thought that my daughter might be interested in making her own vacation memories until we took a trip to Disney World. As we moved from place to place in the parks, she kept asking if she could take pictures with my camera. Since she was four at the time, I was hesitant to trust her for an extended period of time, but did allow her some occasional chances to take a picture or two. Looking back at...

American Girl, the brand known for bringing history-based 18-inch dolls to bunches of kids over the past 30 years, has been releasing a special Girl of the Year each year for the past decade or so. Each of these characters generally has a specific interest, such as baking or dance. Over the course of two to three books (it varies from year to year), her story related to that interest evolves, and she overcomes various challenges along the way....

As some of my readers know, I use a wheelchair most of the time when I leave the house. I also use wheelchair-accessible public transportation, which is faulty even in the best of weather, so in the winter it can be downright unbearable. Plus, traveling with a wheelchair anywhere in the winter is a hardship. So what’s a gal to do to preserve her mental health and stay in touch with her geeky community? The first thing is to...

As we kick off the new year, have you started cosplanning your cosplays for 2018? Twin Cities Geek is here to help with a comprehensive list of conventions and a few other select events in Minnesota you might be interested in cosplaying at in 2018. Click on the convention’s name to visit its website, which will have the most current information on dates, registration prices, guest appearances, cosplay contests, and more! (Note that events other than conventions are listed separately...

As the parent of a kindergarten-aged geekling, I’m having to learn how to navigate the minefield of pop culture that is the PG-13 movie. If either my spouse or I have a chance to see it before we show it to our daughter, that’s great! We can go into the experience knowing what to expect and which parts might have the potential to be a little scary. What’s really tricky, though, is when we’d like to see the movie...

For many anime enthusiasts, Eiichiro Oda’s monster story One Piece represents a mountain that one has neither the time nor the energy to traverse. After all, Oda’s been writing this story for 20 years with no sign of ending it. The manga is close to a whopping 900 chapters, and the anime isn’t far behind in number of episodes. People usually say, “Sounds interesting, but I don’t want to commit that much time to watching an anime.” I completely understand...